Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The rumours about 3 Idiots remake lead actor has finally come to an end, as the Gemini Film Circuit has announced that Vijay will play the lead role in Shankar directorial film.

The makers have also made it official that the title is Nanban.

The makers of the film have made it clear that Vijay has been roped in and he will play the role, which was played by Aamir Khan in the original. They also cleared that they have finalized the movie title as Nanban after considering Moovar and 3 Rascals.

The news comes as a surprise to many as the actor walked out in December 2010 citing date issues. To its trouble, Mahesh Babu, who gave his consent to act in Telugu version, also pulled out in the last minute due to unknown reasons. Later, it was revealed that the movie bosses are in the process to fill the lead slot with Surya, as he has the appeal in both Tamil and Telugu industries.

Sources say that Surya’s demands and remuneration made the makers to drop him. Hence, they approached Ilayathalapathy Vijay again. The latter, who has postponed his political plans after the success of Kaavalan, gave nod after a lengthy discussion with the director, claims a source.

Now, sources close to production house say that Vijay will join the team by this month end. However, Shankar has started the shooting from yesterday. Actress Illeana D’Cruz, Jeeva, Srikanth and Sathyaraj have joined him for the first schedule.

S J Suryah and Sathyaraj joins in ‘Nanban’, the Tamil version of ‘3 Idiots’

Director Shankar has pulled off a major coup of sorts for his upcoming Tamil remake of the Hindi superhit 3 idiots.

TOI understands that the latest development is that he's gotten director-turned-actor S J Suryah to do the important role of Chatur Ramalingam or 'Silencer', done by Omi Vaidya in the original. Earlier, at the time of the film's casting, it was said that Omi Vaidya would reprise his role in the remake but due to continuous changes in dates, he could not do it. In fact, grapevine has it that he's likely to do the role made memorable by Ganesh in Gautham Menon's Hindi remake of VTV.

As per sources in the 3 idiots camp, it was Vijay who recommended S J Suryah's name for the vital role in the film. CT understands that Vijay, who plays Aamir Khan's role in the remake, has a lot of comic confrontation scenes with S J Suryah. The actor, who is apparently shooting for the film in Ooty with Jiiva and Srikanth, could not be reached for comment.

Ten years ago, S J Suryah made his acting debut doing a small role in Vijay's Kushi which he directed. He then went on to make the controversial New with Simran that was a huge hit and the acting bug caught up with him. His films as hero bombed even as his films as director did well. However, his last release as director — Pawan Kalyan's big-budget action-packed Telugu flick Puli (2010) — that was slotted to be remade in Tamil was a colossal flop.

Though Vijay was the original choice to play the lead role in the film, he backed off citing 'date problems'. Director Shankar then approached actor Suriya, who demanded his salary plus the Telugu dubbing rights. As that was not financially viable, the 3 idiots team went back to Vijay who, post the success of Kaavalan, has realised the need to rework his image.